The Plotalot component and plugin work in Joomla 4 and above.
The Joomla site that Plotalot is installed on must be running on a MySql database.
Plotalot can create charts from external databases other than MySql, but its Joomla database must be MySql or MariaDB.
Install the Plotalot Component using the Joomla Extension Manager in the usual way. If you have bought the paid version, also install the Plotalot Plugin.
In the admin interface, you will find a new component "Plotalot", where you can create and edit charts and tables. You will also now be able to create menu items of type “Plotalot, Simple List of Charts”. See Showing Charts Using a Menu Item for more details.
To install the Plotalot plugin, use the Joomla Extension Manager in the usual way. Check that it is enabled in the Joomla Plugin Manager. Then see Adding Charts to Articles - The Plotalot Plugin for more details.
You can always upgrade from any version to any newer version without uninstalling. You will not lose your data. Just install the new version in the usual way.
You can, if you wish, uninstall the old version and then install the new version. You will never lose your Plotalot data by uninstalling the component. However, you may need to edit and re-save any Plotalot menu items.
To uninstall Plotalot, use Extension Manager: Manage in the usual way. All the files that were installed will be removed, but the database table is not deleted. If you want to remove all trace of Plotalot permanently, you can manually drop the three xxx_plotalot tables using a utility such as PhpMyAdmin.
A number of sample charts are installed with Plotalot. You can safely delete them, but they will be re-installed every time you re-install Plotalot. You can modify the sample charts but you should not use them as live charts because they are permanently flagged as samples and might, in a future version, be modified by a re- installation of Plotalot.
The Plotalot Plugin is not free and you will need to be logged in to https://remository.com and with a current subscription to download the plugin.
The Plotalot component and plugin can be kept up to date using the standard Joomla update feature. To enable this you will need to install your software token into your web site. If they are not already installed, you will need to install two plugins:
The Authentication plugin requires configuring. Go to the "Update Servers" tab. Click on the plus sign (+) with green background. The popup box has three fields - the first two will default correctly. The third field should have your token. You can find your token by logging in to the Remository site and looking at your profile.